Pearson Plc said restructuring costs are set to decline in 2015 after two years of job cuts and reorganization, helping the publisher of the Financial Times boost earnings even as sales are stalling.

First-quarter revenue was little changed excluding currency swings, Pearson said Friday. The London-based company reiterated its earnings per share may rise as much as 20 percent this year and said Chairman Glen Moreno was stepping down after nine years in the role.

Pearson Plc (PSON), the publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, reiterated its full-year earnings forecast and said its restructuring and investment program is on schedule to speed growth next year.

The shares rose as much as 4.1 percent. Adjusted earnings per share will be 62 pence to 67 pence in 2014, London-based Pearson said in a statement today. Profit will be heavily weighted to the second half, it said. First-quarter sales dropped 6 percent on a stronger British pound versus the U.S. dollar, according to the statement.

The nonprofit arm of publishing giant Pearson Inc. agreed Thursday to pay $7.7 million to settle an investigation into whether it improperly sent government employees on international junkets.

The London-based company didn't admit wrongdoing in the settlement with the New York state Attorney General's office. The bulk of the settlement, $7.5 million, will go toward 100Kin10, an organization that is trying to place 100,000 highly-qualified math and science teachers in classrooms across America by 2021.